Ciudad De Barcelona was an
ocean liner
An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships).
Ca ...
built by
Cantiere Navale Triestino
Cantiere Navale Triestino – abbreviated CNT, or in English Trieste Naval Shipyard – was a private shipbuilding company based at Monfalcone operating in the early 20th century. The yard still functions today, though under a different name.
His ...
,
Monfalcone
Monfalcone (; Bisiacco: ; fur, Monfalcon; sl, Tržič; archaic german: Falkenberg) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Gorizia in Friuli Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, located on the Gulf of Trieste. Monfalcone means 'falcon mountain' ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
for the
Compañía Trasmediterranea and launched on 8 June 1929. Her original name was ''Infante Don Jaime'', but after the declaration of the
Second Spanish Republic
The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...
in April 1931, the ship was renamed ''Ciudad De Barcelona''.
The ship was owned by a company of the Spanish businessman
Juan March Ordinas
Juan Alberto March Ordinas (4 October 1880 – 10 March 1962) was a Spanish business magnate, arms and tobacco smuggler, banker and philanthropist.
Closely associated with the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist side during an ...
who was an important
Falangist
Falangism ( es, falangismo) was the political ideology of two political parties in Spain that were known as the Falange, namely first the Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FE de las JONS) and afterwards the Fal ...
’s financial supporter. As the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
broke out in June 1936, ''Ciudad De Barcelona'' was nationalized by the Republican government.
She was torpedoed by the Spanish Nationalist
''Archimede''-class submarine ''
General Sanjurjo
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...
'' and sunk off the coast of
Malgrat de Mar
Malgrat de Mar is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Maresme, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the Costa Brava between Santa Susanna and Blanes. A local road runs from the town to the main N-II road, while t ...
on 30 May 1937. ''Ciudad De Barcelona'' was carrying 200–250 volunteers of the
International Brigades
The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...
from
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
to Spain. Up to 65 of them are estimated to have drowned, as well as more than 100 other passengers and crew members.
[
]
Service history
In 1929–1931 ''Ciudad de Barcelona'' offered cruises from Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. 1931–1936 she sailed between the Balearic and Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
with stops in Cadiz, Santa Cruz de La Palma
Santa Cruz de la Palma (Spanish for ''Holy Cross of La Palma'') is a city and a municipality on the east coast of the island of La Palma in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz de la Palma is the second-largest ...
, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (), is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its admi ...
and Las Palmas
Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean.
It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...
. Since the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, the ship was used to land troops at Ibiza
Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...
and in the failed Invasion of Mallorca. In October 1936 ''Ciudad De Barcelona'' sailed to the Soviet Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
ports and made voyages to Marseille and Algiers
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
to transport International Brigade volunteers to Spain.[
]
Sinking
The first effort to sink the ''Ciudad de Barcelona'' had been attempted in January 1937, but the torpedo had malfunctioned.[ On Saturday 29 May 1937, some 200–250 international volunteers boarded the ship in Marseille.][ They were mainly from North America, Great Britain, Germany and Italy, but some came from Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand. There was also a group of French pilots and Senegalese passengers. ''Ciudad de Barcelona'' was intended to sail to Barcelona or ]Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
, depending on situation of the armed conflict
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
between the communists and anarchists in Barcelona.[ The ship had a cargo of war material, including items like tanks, tires, motorcycles, cotton fabrics and canned food.][ A day before, the ship's cargo of flour was sabotaged as someone had poured kerosene upon it.][ She was under the command of captain Francisco Nadal.][
At sunset, ''Ciudad de Barcelona'' headed for the open sea with all lights off. She sailed a distance of approximately 1 km (one mile) from the shore, trying to avoid the Italian submarines and warships. The ]Non-Intervention Committee
During the Spanish Civil War, several countries followed a principle of non-intervention to avoid any potential escalation or possible expansion of the war to other states. That would result in the signing of the Non-Intervention Agreement in Au ...
had ordered this part of the sea under the control of Italian Navy. As the ship reached the Spanish waters, it was warned of the lurking submarines by the Republican airplanes and patrol boats. Soon she was escorted by a Spanish gunship.[
On the afternoon of Sunday 30 May, ''Ciudad de Barcelona'' was off the coast of Malgrat, about 60 kilometres north of Barcelona. She was spotted by the Italian submarine ''General Sanjuro'', which was under the command of captain Pablo Suances Jaudenes. The submarine was originally named ''Archimede'' and transferred to the Spanish nationalist navy in April 1937. ''General Sanjuro'' was seeking revenge for the Germans, as the cruiser '']Deutschland
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the List of European countries by population, second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the Eur ...
'' was hit by the Republican airplanes in the port of Ibiza a week earlier. The attack killed 31 German sailors.[ The submarine launched two torpedoes. The first one missed and landed to the beach of ]Lloret de Mar
Lloret de Mar (; ) is a Mediterranean coastal town in Catalonia, Spain. It is south of Girona and northeast of Barcelona. With a population of 38,402 in 2021, it is the second largest town in the Selva comarca of Catalonia.
Lloret de Mar attra ...
. Captain Nadal tried a desperate maneuver by turning ''Ciudad de Barcelona'' towards Malgrat, in order to save the passengers, but at 6 PM she was hit by another torpedo which exploded in the engine room. At the time, the ship was only 400 metres off the shore. ''Ciudad de Barcelona'' sank rapidly, in just two or three minutes.[
The passengers were saved by Republican Coast Guard boats and seaplanes, as well as the local fishermen who rushed to the scene. The President of Catalonia, ]Lluis Companys
Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...
, came from Barcelona to observe the life saving efforts.[ The victims were hospitalized, some to the town of ]Calella
Calella is a municipality in the Maresme region of Spain, located 50 km from Barcelona, 50 km from Girona and 6 km from the Montnegre-Corredor Natural Park. It is known as the tourist capital of the Costa del Maresme and is characterized by being ...
and others to Barcelona.[ The surviving volunteers were transported to Barcelona were they soon joined the International Brigades. Only one decided to leave back home. One of the survivors was the Finnish American newspaperman Hjalmar Sankari (died March 1938 in the Aragon Retreats), an editor of the New York daily '']Eteenpäin
''Eteenpäin'' (English: ''Forward'') was a Finnish language, Finnish-language daily newspaper launched in New York City in 1921. The paper was the East Coast organ of Finnish-American members of the Communist Party USA. The paper moved to Worcest ...
'', who wrote an article to his newspaper of the incident. According to Sankari, some of the volunteers were singing the ''Internationale
"The Internationale" (french: "L'Internationale", italic=no, ) is an international anthem used by various communist and socialist groups; currently, it serves as the official anthem of the Communist Party of China. It has been a standard of th ...
'' while they were drowning with the ship.[
The death toll was over two hundred dead, although some sources cite more than three hundred. According to the Madrid newspaper '']ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
'', the ship carried 312 passengers and 64 crew members of which 4 died.[ 60–65 volunteers lost their lives, but only 25 names are known.][ The Republican government tried to censor news of the incident to avoid a negative effect on future shipments. However, an Italian news agency informed the press of the sinking and it was already on Monday newspapers.][
The wreck of ''Ciudad de Barcelona'' lies in the depth of 30 meters and is often visited by divers.][
]
Sources
75è aniversari de l’enfonsament del "Ciudad de Barcelona". Recull d’articles i de documents. Malgrat de Mar, 30 de maig de 2012
City of Malgrat de Mar.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciudad de Barcelona
1929 ships
Maritime incidents in 1937
Ships built in Italy
Maritime incidents in Spain
Shipwrecks of the Spanish Civil War
Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea
Ships sunk by Spanish submarines